clip someone's wings

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Idioms and Phrases

Restrain or reduce someone's freedom, as in Hiding his car keys—you're really clipping his wings . This metaphor for clipping a bird's wings to prevent its flying away dates from ancient Roman times. Christopher Marlowe used it in The Massacre at Paris (1590): “Away to prison with him, I'll clip his wings.”

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

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